Wordsworth's birthplace opening hours to be cut

William Wordsworth was born in Cockermouth in 1770 and his house is a National Trust property

The number of days that members of the public can visit the house where William Wordsworth, the celebrated Romantic poet, was born are to be reduced.

The National Trust, which owns Wordsworth House in Cockermouth, Cumbria, said from next year the site's opening days will be cut from five days a week to three or four days.

It said the cuts were part of plans to ensure all its sites were "financially sustainable".

Labour MP Markus Campbell-Savours, for Penrith and Solway, said the house was a "treasure" and that he wanted to secure its long-term future as a "thriving cultural hub" for the town.

National Trust official Jez Westgarth said: "Our priority is to work with the local community to ensure more people can access and enjoy heritage and history at Wordsworth House & Garden."

The organisation had previously said the building was underused and that if it remained open as a "pay-for-entry experience" it would continue to lose "significant amounts" of money.

It also said it would not be discussing potential staffing cuts publicly at this time.

"Our priority is to support the staff affected by this process," a spokesperson said.

National Trust members would still get free entry to the attraction, the organisation also said.

William Wordsworth died in 1850 at Rydal Mount, his family home in Ambleside

The site will close for the winter on 5 November and reopen next year operating under the reduced opening days.

Wordsworth was born in the Georgian in 1770.

In poems such as The Prelude, the poet reminisces about his childhood in the town.

Rydal Mount, in Ambleside, where Wordsworth lived from 1813 until his death in 1850, was recently put up for sale, with descendant Christopher Wordsworth saying it was "harder and harder" to manage the Lake District property from his home in London.